Shoebox
by Storm Elf
Summary: After a fight, Dee is injured in the line of duty. Ryo is trying to clean up his apartment and finds something interesting under Dee's bed.


Inspired by the song "Shoebox" by "bare naked ladies"  
  
Dee snored on as Ryo swept the amounting dust off of his bedside table. His apartment was always a mess and Ryo was going to do something about it for once. He had begun in the living room so that he could give Dee more time to sleep but as the hours came and went he finished the apartment before his slumbering partner could awaken. His partner had been badly injured and was under the full effects of pain medication.  
  
He had no idea why he had agreed to stay with Dee for the night. Dee had done something that Ryo could never forgive him for, he had played with his heart. He had lead him to believe that he cared and then slept with JJ. A week had passed but Ryo was still seething with anger. He had played with JJ's heart as well. After the night that they had spent together Dee was still just as cold to him as he had always been.  
  
"Now time for under the bed.." Ryo sighed as he reached his slender hand into the dark ibis. He fished around under it to find that the dust bunnies had been very busy doing what rabbits did best and that there were now enough to pose a major military threat. "When is the last time he cleaned under here?" Ryo questioned a larger blob of dust. As if in answer to his question, he pulled back a news paper about five years old. "That answers that question is suppose."  
  
He looked at it for a moment. A headline was circled. Ryo skimmed over the article looking for why his cleaning challenged partner had circled it. The article was about a high profile case in the 25th precinct in which I cop had been killed on the job by a madman. In it, they interviewed his partner, Dee. "Twenty fifth, that cant be right, we work in the twenty seventh precinct." He continued to read the article with much more interest than before.  
  
In the article, Dee admitted to loving his partner. On the day of his death, they had had a fight. He had never gotten a chance to apologize. At the end, Dee said that he could never work in that precinct again because of too many personal attachments.  
  
Ryo placed the yellowing paper aside and reached under again pulling back the world's biggest pile of dust. He blew on it and a box immerged from the form. He opened it up and found many childhood memories inside. He could see love letter written from someone, apparently Dee's first love that Ryo had managed to learn just a little about from constant asking. That too, had ended in tragedy.  
  
"Serves you right, playing with people's hearts like you do. I'd bet that you didn't care for either of them you slimy bastard." Ryo hissed at Dee's still sleeping form.  
  
He didn't want to reach any further under his bed and learn more secrets but he knew he had to finish what he started. One more swipe of the hand pulled back another box, a newer one. He peeked inside and saw his photo. It intrigued him enough to make him open it up the rest of the way and dare to look at its contents. Under it was a short letter dated from only days after their first meeting.  
  
Ryo,  
  
Hey, I don't think that I will ever get the guts to send this to you but I might as well write it. I want to let you know what I think about you. I care about you more than you will ever know. I know that I seem like a scatter brained idiot and maybe I am. My attempts to get your attention have been falling flat. I don't think that you realize that I am serious here. I love you, as corny as it may sound, I do. I want to get you to love me back but I really don't know how. Everyone else that I have set my sights on was already head over heels for me and I never had any practice with someone like you.  
  
My family isn't as great as yours, neither is anything else that I have. You are the amazing person who is always so much better than I am. I don't know how to deal with someone like you. I love you more than you will ever know.  
  
I love you no matter what you think,  
  
Dee  
  
Ryo dove deeper into the box. There was another letter addressed to him.  
  
Ryo,  
  
Hey, I feel like shit! I cant believe that I just did something stupid enough to hurt you. I didn't want to sleep with JJ. I hate his guts. Please understand that I wasn't thinking clearly. You had just rejected me really bad and this was my way of getting back at you. I hate myself for doing it. When I got back to my apartment in the morning I felt so terrible about it that I made myself sick. I cried so much that I ended up dehydrated too.  
  
I hurt you and JJ. Two people that I never should have. I hate playing with people's hearts like this but I cant control it. I love you but I needed something physical for once. JJ is always more than willing and I admit that I have used him before back in the academy. (I suppose that might be why he is ever hopeful.) Back then I didn't think anything about it but now I feel like shit for hurting you. I was hurting people then too, both JJ and whomever I was with at the time, it had a tendency to change quickly.  
  
I have changed even if I don't show it. Please, I beg you, forgive me. I will never do it again, I couldn't do it again even if I wanted to!  
  
I have and will always love you,  
  
Dee.  
  
Small dots of dried water specked the paper, tears. Dee had been moved to tears over it.  
  
"Dee," Ryo whispered his name and put his hand on the letter. "I shouldn't have been so tough on you. Most people would have given up by now but you never did. You proved your love more times than I can count but I threw every single one of them back in your face."  
  
"That's ok Ryo." A calming voice said from the bed. "I was the jackass, not you. But if you really want to make it up, lay here with me for a little bit, just until I get to sleep again."  
  
Ryo took his shoes off and slid under the old quilt and between the soft cotton sheets. Dee's warm arms wrapped around him and pulled him closer. "Wait just a sec," Ryo pulled out of the embrace. Dee just looked at the bed sheets where Ryo had been and let out a long held sigh of frustration. He looked up and saw that Ryo had unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the floor. "It's really warm under there and I don't want to get my shirt al sweaty." Ryo tried to rationalize what he had done though Dee knew the truth, Ryo didn't want his shirt on. He laughed a little and pulled him closer.  
  
End +~+~+~+~+~+~+ Well, what do you think? I know that it is nothing but fluff but, well, I liked it and I wanted to see if anyone else did. 


End file.
